Military Aviation News Archive
05/29/2025
French President Emmanuel Macron appears to have convinced Indonesia to place follow-on orders for Rafale and Scorpene submarines as it seeks to deepen defense and trade ties with Southeast Asia’s largest economy. Macron arrived in Jakarta, Indonesia, from Vietnam on May 27 for the second leg of his three-country Southeast Asia tour, which also includes Singapore, and aims to project France as a balancing power in the Indo-Pacific.
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05/29/2025
The crisis within the IAF cannot by itself explain the excellent performance of Pakistani PL-15 missiles against what were supposedly India’s superior air capabilities. The dismal showing of India’s expensive French-built Dassault Rafales in its recent war against Pakistan has triggered a wave of recriminations between the Indian and French governments. Not only has the unimpressive display of the Dassault Rafales in the opening phases of the recent conflict come as a shock to the world.
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05/29/2025
India’s new stealth fighter plan aims to reassert air dominance in a region where Pakistan’s Chinese-made jets recently drew first blood in an intensifying South Asian arms race. This month, India’s Ministry of Defense green-lighted a blueprint for developing its most sophisticated stealth fighter jet, known as the Advanced Medium Combat Aircraft (AMCA), Reuters reported.
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05/28/2025
India, one of the world's largest arms importers, has made the modernisation of its forces a top priority in the face of tensions with nuclear-armed Pakistan and China. Defence Minister Rajnath Singh approved the prototype of a 5th generation Advanced Medium Combat Aircraft (AMCA), the ministry said in a statement, calling it a "significant push towards enhancing India's indigenous defence capabilities".
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05/28/2025
Over more than three years of conflict, various Russian/Soviet-origin fighter jets operated by the Ukrainian Air Force have been observed modified or adapted to deploy Western weaponry. To cite just a few examples, Su-27 fighters have been seen using French-made AASM HAMMER guided bombs and U.S.-made GBU-39 glide bombs. The Su-24 Fencer aircraft have also been employed as launch platforms for SCALP EG/Storm Shadow cruise missiles.
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05/27/2025
The Finnish Foreign Ministry has summoned russian Ambassador Pavel Kuznetsov to demand an explanation in connection with the alleged violation of the country's airspace by russian military aircraft on May 23.
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05/27/2025
During the recent China-Egypt joint air drills, Eagles of Civilization 2025, held between April and May at Wadi Abu Rish Air Base, non-official sources reported that the Commander of the Egyptian Air Force, Lieutenant General Mahmoud Fuad Abdel Gawad, expressed a strong interest in China’s J-35 stealth fighter. While this information has not been officially confirmed by either Egyptian or Chinese authorities.
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05/27/2025
The Dutch Ministry of Defense confirmed on Monday that the final batch of six F-16 fighter jets promised to Kyiv has left the Netherlands on its way to Ukraine. The Netherlands has been a key ally of Ukraine and an early advocate for Ukraine to receive fighter jets from the West. In May 2023, former US President Joe Biden agreed to allow the Netherlands and other European countries to begin training Ukrainian pilots and to transfer F-16s to Ukraine.
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05/27/2025
Recent reports from various international media outlets, including Defense Arabic, suggest that Azerbaijan is poised to significantly bolster its air force by expanding its order of JF-17 Thunder Block III fighter jets, a joint production between Pakistan and China.
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05/27/2025
As reported by TASS on May 22, 2025, the first confirmed foreign customer of the Russian Su-57E fifth-generation multirole fighter jet will begin operating the aircraft in 2025. While the Russian Federal Service for Military-Technical Cooperation did not disclose the identity of the purchasing country during the MILEX 2025 defense exhibition in Minsk, multiple independent sources, including Algerian state television and statements from Russian officials, confirm that Algeria is the first export
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05/26/2025
A major shift is underway for one of the most prominent units of the United States Air National Guard. The 127th Wing, based at Selfridge Air National Guard Base in Michigan, will replace its A-10 Thunderbolt II aircraft with 21 new F-15EX Eagle II fighters. President Donald J. Trump announced this development during his visit to Selfridge on April 29, 2025. It marks a new phase for the unit, which has operated the A-10 for the past 15 years.
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05/26/2025
Japan’s Defense Ministry has announced for the first time that China sent its Liaoning aircraft carrier into the East China Sea, some 200 kilometers from the Japanese-administered Senkaku Islands, for practice deploying fighter jets. The Defense Ministry’s Joint Staff Office said in a statement late Sunday that the Chinese carrier was sailing alongside four destroyers in the waters north of Kuba Island in the Senkaku chain, which is also claimed by Beijing, where the islets are known as the Diao
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05/26/2025
Ukrainian Deputy Minister of Defence for Aviation Development Oleksandr Kozenko met with a Swedish delegation led by Thomas Lindén, Director for Ukraine Affairs at Saab, on May 23, 2025. The discussions centered on modernizing Ukraine’s aging fleet of Soviet-era aircraft and exploring the potential transfer of advanced Swedish aviation platforms.
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05/26/2025
The recent aerial clash between Pakistan and India offers a glimpse of how China is narrowing the gap in military airpower with the US. It is a warning not just for Washington, but for Taipei, too. Claims from both sides remain contested, but a broader picture is emerging among experts who track China’s air force and fighter jet development: Beijing’s defense systems are growing increasingly credible.
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05/26/2025
In 2016, Ankara announced the launch of its Turkish Fighter (TF-X), a stealth, twin-engine, all-weather air superiority fighter plane, rechristened as the KAAN project, which is part of a wider initiative intended to reduce Turkey’s dependence on foreign imports for its defense industry. At the start of the 2000s, Turkey relied on imports for 80% of its defense requirements, a figure that has now been reduced to around 20%.
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05/26/2025
Almost simultaneously with U.S. President Donald Trump concluding his tour of the Middle East, the Israeli Air Force confirmed that it carried out airstrikes against Houthi positions in Yemen, using its F-15 Baz fighter-bombers for the operation. According to the Air Force, the missions took place on Friday, May 16th, and specifically targeted the ports of Hodeidah and Salif—an action that, according to Jerusalem, was a response to the ongoing missile and drone attacks launched by the rebels.
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05/25/2025
The U.S. has two of the world’s four fifth-generation fighters, the F-22 Raptor and the F-35 Lightning II. Owing to their similar names and appearances, the two planes have a tendency to be conflated—and the fact that both are produced by Lockheed Martin invites further confusion. But the two cutting-edge fighters are quite different in most respects. From speed to maneuverability to stealth to avionics, they were built for different missions.
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05/25/2025
On May 22, 2025, The Merge published imagery of a U.S. Air Force F-15E Strike Eagle undergoing flight testing with an underwing loadout of 42 APKWS II 70 mm guided rockets, marking a substantial increase in munition capacity. Compared to the typical six air-to-air missile loadout, the integration of APKWS II enables the F-15E to carry up to 42 guided rockets, potentially increasing the number of engagement opportunities by a factor of seven against UAS and cruise missiles.
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05/25/2025
Only time will tell whether or not Sweden’s domestically produced sixth-gen fighter will ever make it past the conception phase. The United States and China are not the only nations racing to build sixth-generation fighter programs. While Washington’s Next-Generation Air Dominance (NGAD) family of systems and China’s J-36 fighter prototype continue to monopolize media headlines, other sixth-gen concepts have come to fruition in recent years.
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05/25/2025
On May 21, 2025, the Weibo user posted images reportedly showing a green-painted J-35A fighter jet, a color typically associated with unpainted airframes or early production models, which led to speculation that the aircraft could be the first serial production J-35A. Although some internet sources and commentators claimed the aircraft was intended for Pakistan or had already entered operational service, such interpretations are not supported by any official statements.
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05/25/2025
Two NATO members have accused Russia of provocation along the alliance's eastern flank. Poland said on Thursday that its fighter jets had intercepted a Russian Su-24 bomber that performed "dangerous" maneuvers in international airspace over the Baltic Sea. The next day, Finland said it was investigating whether Russian aircraft had breached the NATO member's
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05/24/2025
South Korea, with US support, restored a grounded F-35A by pioneering wing-removal transport. This saved millions of dollars and bolstered future repairs in the F-35 sustainment program. The US-led F-35 Joint Program Office (JPO) aided the Republic of Korea Air Force (RoKAF) in refurbishing its damaged Lockheed Martin F-35A Lightning II, previously considered irreparable and a write-off. After colliding with an eagle, the RoKAF F-35A was forced to make an emergency landing.
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05/24/2025
As part of the “Peace Condor” program, the Argentine Air Force (FAA) achieved two major milestones in May on its path toward full operational capability with F-16 fighter jets: its first participation in the global F100 engine users conference hosted by Pratt & Whitney, and the launch of a state-of-the-art tactical simulation center at the VI Air Brigade in Tandil.
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05/24/2025
On 21 May, the Italian Ministry of Defence announced the signing of an intergovernmental agreement for the supply of 12 Leonardo M-346 FA (Block 20) light combat aircraft to Austria. The contract also includes a full mission simulator, IRIS-T short-range air-to-air missile integration, Link 16 data link, Nexter 20mm gun pods, LAU-32 rocket launchers, and Elbit SPEAR AECM pods for self-defence and electronic warfare.
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05/23/2025
The capability of military aircraft is a crucial element of international defense strategies, serving as a foundation for rapid-response operations, force projection, and national security. Beyond defending their own borders, nations with the largest and most advanced military aircraft fleets by 2025 will significantly influence regional and international security dynamics. Fighter jets, bombers, transport aircraft, observation systems, aerial refuelers, drones, and early-warning aircraft.
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